Literature Atlas

How Stories Are Told
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Genre

Pourquoi Story

Epic and Heroic Narrative

A pourquoi story also called an origin story, pourquoi tale, or an etiological tale, is a fictional narrative that explains why something is the way it is, for example why snakes have no legs or why tigers have striped coats. Many legends, origin myths and folk tales are pourquoi stories. A more pejorative term for these stories is a just-so story, coined by English writer Rudyard Kipling in 1902.

Facts
Notable Example
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling 1
Defining Trait
Fictional narrative explaining why something is the way it is 1
Sources
1. Pourquoi story - Wikipedia
  • Examples section
    Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, many of which give explanations for the origin of animals and their characteristics.
  • Opening paragraph, definition
    a fictional narrative that explains why something is the way it is, for example why snakes have no legs or why tigers have striped coats.
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